Various types of outdoor cooking stoves or grills have been extensively used in the past for cooking various food products, particularly meat, in an outdoor environment. Users of such devices particularly enjoy the taste that is imparted to the food products by cooking over charcoal, wood or the like, wherein the food product is flavored with smoke during the cooking process.
In many cases, outdoor barbecue devices require a significant amount of space for storage and handling, due to the size and dimension of such parts as the firebox, grill elements, barbecue supports, etc. In outdoor activities, such as camping, it is frequently desirable to transport an outdoor barbecue device in order that outdoor barbecuing can be accomplished in conjunction with camping activities. In such cases, the barbecue cooking devices that are commercially available at this time typically require an unusually large amount of space for transportation and handling, thereby rendering them generally ineffective for such outdoor activities. It is desirable, therefore, to provide an outdoor barbecue unit which is of a size promoting efficient use thereof during outdoor activities and yet is capable of being folded to an extremely compact unit which is efficient for storage and handling in conjunction with outdoor activities. It is also desirable to provide an outdoor barbecue unit that is designed to be set up for use or folded for storage in only a few minutes time and without any risk getting hands or clothing soiled in doing so.
It is also well known that the grill portions of typical barbecue units for support of food products being cooked and support of cooking fuel, such as charcoal briquets, charcoal, wood, etc., typically become quite dirty during outdoor cooking activities. Moreover, in the outdoor environment, it is usually difficult, if not impractical, to accomplish cleaning of the grills so that they can be handled and transported without soiling other equipment. It is therefore desirable to provide a portable barbecue assembly that may be efficiently handled and transported after use without necessitating cleaning of the grills and without the risk of soiling other equipment.